


Snow And Stars

by MemoriesofMiltia



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Originally a Zine piece
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-14 18:42:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14775096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MemoriesofMiltia/pseuds/MemoriesofMiltia
Summary: How Hanzo put Zenyatta in the stars.Originally published as 'Love in The Stars' in the Marked by Redemption Zine.





	Snow And Stars

There were many, many advantages to traveling mostly on foot with a lover. You could count on them to carry half the luggage, if there was something wondrous or dangerous around that you didn’t see, it was more than likely that your partner would spot it and call attention to it (though, in Hanzo’s and Zenyatta’s case, Zenyatta tended to call more attention to the small, beautiful, and transient or unnoticed things, and Hanzo, eternally gruff and wary, tended to warn Zenyatta of potential danger while he was meditating or pondering instead of pointing out something amazing), and if you got into trouble that you couldn’t avoid, like wild animals or people who enjoyed busting up Omnics, you always had someone around to help you and watch your back. Plus, a traveling companion made meals a bit more lively and cheerful, reluctant as Hanzo was to admit it.

Of course, one of the few disadvantages was that you both had to deal with the weather, which usually meant twice as much griping, and while Zenyatta wasn’t one to really complain about the weather, Hanzo made up for him in spades.

“Torbjörn will pay if his boasting about his mech lessons is nothing more than hot air.” He grumbled, looking like a cat who’d just been dumped into freezing-cold water against their will as he forced his way up a hill covered with knee-high snow. “His boasting may be the only warm thing in this place.”

“I’m sure your patience and hard work will be rewarded when we reach him, dear.” Zenyatta replied, hovering next to him. At the rate Hanzo was going, Zenyatta could have just sped by him, but instead, he deliberately slowed down so that he could stay right by his beloved’s side. “And the snow might be cold, but it’s majestic to look at. I can see why so many painters try to depict it’s beauty to share with others.”

“It’s easy for you to admire it when you don’t have to deal with it!”

“I don’t think you want me to ruin my wiring, do you?” Zenyatta asked, his tone teasing, and Hanzo swore that, if he could have, Zenyatta would have been giving him a sly grin. “There’s so much snow here that it might melt and get into my leg wires. We’re still a long way from Torbjörn’s. I wouldn’t want you to carry me all that way.”

“I..wouldn’t mind carrying you, if I had to.” Hanzo quietly replied as he finally reached the top of the hill, pausing for a few minutes so that he could get his breath back.

“I’m overjoyed to hear that. But, at the moment, there’s no need to carry me. I can keep going as I am.” With a gruff little, “I see.”, Hanzo kept going through the forest, and Zenyatta moved on with him. For the next few hours, their journey was full of freezing snow and comfortable silence, the latter of which Hanzo appreciated far more than the former. Zenyatta was right, honestly. Even without the snow, Tylöskog would have been a magnificent place to travel with someone you loved, whether you had a reason to do so or not, but with the snow, the whole forest lit up like someone had covered it in six billion polished and gleaming diamonds. It was a majestic hominess, like the snow was cuddling up with a lover that it hadn’t seen in six months and had no intention of getting up anytime soon.

But, while Hanzo appreciated Tylöskog’s beauty on a surface level, in his own words, it was easy to admire it when you didn’t have to deal with it, didn’t have to deal with the fact that your skin felt like ice, that the majority of the clothes you were wearing were more wet, heavy, and freezing than a walrus who’d just scrambled out of the Arctic Sea, that you were both completely exhausted and sick of trudging up and down hills and long trails full of knee-high, freezing snow, that you hadn’t had a good, warm bath in two days, and that you were so gruff and stubborn when it came to admitting your wants and needs-things that other people could help you with, if only you voiced them-that you made elephant bull seals look friendly by comparison. It was easy to admire the snow when you didn’t have to deal with all these problems and issues.

As they traveled for those next few hours, Zenyatta quietly hovered by Hanzo’s side, only making a small comment when Hanzo complained about the weather again, not wanting to push him too hard when he was already annoyed and suffering through their long journey. Eventually though, as the sun started to quickly set, dying the diamond forest salmon and tangerine, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Quickly, he moved behind Hanzo and, hooking his arms under Hanzo’s armpits, dragged him up onto his lap, ignoring the way Hanzo nearly squawked and flailed in both surprise and protest and the disgusted look on his face, which was probably partially born from Zenyatta’s freezing skin and not just because he’d been picked up like a child.

“Once the sun sets, it will get even colder, Hanzo,” Zenyatta explained, trying to warm up his skin as quickly as it could, “and there isn’t a place for you to rest safely. I don’t have to rest for awhile. So, I shall carry you, since you can’t keep going as you are.” While this softened Hanzo’s expression a bit, he still didn’t look completely convinced as he crossed his legs to better sit on Zenyatta’s lap and avoid the snow, shivering as Zenyatta wrapped his half-warm arms around his stomach.

“And what about you? Won’t the cold eventually freeze you if you don’t rest by a fire? And if you collapse under my weight, I won’t be happy with either of us.”

“That’s partially why I’m warming myself up.” Zenyatta replied, his voice as warm and soothing as the summer sun after a long winter. “And I’ve carried heavier things than you before. You need not worry about me. If I have to, I’ll stop to warm up in the morning, but you shouldn’t blame yourself if I have to. I alone chose to make this decision. If you can’t avoid blaming yourself though, you should at least make any possible sacrifice on my end meaningful and try to get some rest.” He teased, his metallic skin slowly but surely warming, and while Hanzo wanted to retort, wanted to say that he wasn’t sure Zenyatta could carry him for longer than twenty minutes, didn’t want to be a burden to the person he loved, he couldn’t quite argue with that. It helped that he knew Zenyatta was about as stubborn as he was, that his sore, aching, freezing feet finally had a chance to rest, and that his lover’s body felt like a semi-warm blanket, which was especially wonderful, since his skin felt like thick ice. So, he just gruffly spoke as he slowly rested his head on Zenyatta’s right shoulder.

“Alright, but don’t hesitate to wake me if you need to stop. I don’t want you to freeze to death.”

“I will.” With that, the two became silent again, and as Hanzo relaxed and slowly warmed up, he looked up at the sky, hoping to see whatever was left of the setting sun. Sadly though, it seemed the sun went down a lot faster in Sweden during the winter. It had already been replaced by a dark sky glimmering with what looked like a million stars. The Omnic Crisis hadn’t done any favors for worldwide light pollution, but one could still see them rather clearly here, shimmering away like lamps or beacons for some distant, uncertain future.

As Hanzo drank them in and tried to find a few constellations, he idly wrapped his arms around Zenyatta’s and sighed to himself, tired, but content. He wondered whether any Omnic had ever decided to become an astronomer and made a constellation for Omnics, something wonderful and immortal that could always give them strength and hope to carry on. Struck by an idea, Hanzo slowly and carefully studied the stars, pressing on despite how tired he was, and when he finally found what he was looking for, he smiled to himself before speaking up again, his voice overflowing with love.

“I’ve made something for you. Do you see that group of stars to the right?” He asked, pointing to them.

“Yes?” Zenyatta replied, curious.

“If you were to connect those two stars, and those other two stars,” Hanzo went on, drawing invisible lines with his fingers, as if he really did have the power to build bridges in the heavens with them, “they would look like your eyes, and the stars beneath them would look like your mouth.” As Zenyatta watched Hanzo draw his invisible lines in the sky, he had to agree with him. Of course, the stars that looked like his mouth only looked like the top part of it, but it was ridiculous to expect perfect detail in a constellation. Besides, Zenyatta wasn’t the kind of person to really care about such a small point, especially when it involved a gift from his lover.

“They do look like me. Dearest, thank you. I never thought you would reach up and hand me the stars.”

“I never would have been able to fly up and find them again if it weren’t for you, my love.” Hanzo replied, his smile and voice as warm as a bonfire. “It is the least I can do for you. But you’re welcome. I’m glad you like it.” And with that, Hanzo closed his eyes and slowly drifted off, his arms still wrapped around his lover, and his love in the stars still watching over him.


End file.
